


Cherry-Sweet

by RetroactiveCon



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Autistic Cisco Ramon, Barry Allen has ADHD, Bisexual Barry Allen, First Kiss, Fluff without Plot, Lollipops, M/M, Trans Cisco Ramon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-15
Updated: 2020-12-15
Packaged: 2021-03-10 01:28:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,659
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27786019
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RetroactiveCon/pseuds/RetroactiveCon
Summary: Barry thought Cisco’s thing was Red Vines. Admittedly, he always knew that was more about the mouth stim than the need for sugar, but still, that implies a love for softish mouth stim. (Barry can relate. He loves his nice soft chew necklace, although he only uses it at home out of respect for lab safety.) So when the lollipops first make an appearance, Barry is mostly confused. Then he’s turned on.
Relationships: Barry Allen/Cisco Ramon
Comments: 4
Kudos: 44





	Cherry-Sweet

Barry thought Cisco’s thing was Red Vines. Admittedly, he always knew that was more about the mouth stim than the need for sugar, but still, that implies a love for softish mouth stim. (Barry can relate. He loves his nice soft chew necklace, although he only uses it at home out of respect for lab safety.) So when the lollipops first make an appearance, Barry is mostly confused. Then he’s turned on.

“Dude.” Cisco pulls the lollipop out of his mouth with a wet little _pop_ that most people would probably call obscene. (Barry calls it a sensory-bad noise. Wet noises are definitely not a turn-on for him.) “You’re staring.”

“Um. Sorry.” Barry forces himself to look anywhere but Cisco’s mouth. He shouldn’t be staring. Sure, Cisco’s lips are flushed and a little bit swollen from sucking so eagerly on his lollipop…and sure, Barry’s maybe thinking about how sugary they’d taste in a kiss…but that’s no reason to stare. Nope. Barry isn’t gonna make it weird by staring at his best friend’s mouth.

Thankfully, that resolution isn’t put to the test. Barely five minutes later, they get reports of an angry metahuman throwing plasma bolts at police officers. Barry is grateful for the excuse to think about anything other than Cisco’s newfound love for cherry lollipops. 

Sometime later, when Barry returns victorious, Cisco has finished the lollipop and is munching on the stick. Somehow, this is not more manageable. Barry almost excuses himself again, but before he can do so, Cisco pulls him into a hug.

“Awesome job! That meta was a whole new kind of havoc, but you were just in and out and…you know you’re so much better at this than you were at the beginning?” Cisco’s eyes are wide and impossibly earnest. Barry could almost believe he sees a little spark of…nope, nope. He’s done seeing signals where signals don’t exist. He already freaked Iris out by seeing feelings where feelings were not. He won’t push Cisco away too. Then Cisco’s eyes skitter away and the moment is gone. “Not that you were bad at the beginning, I mean, but you were…”

“Overenthusiastic?” Barry musters a grin and hopes it’s not awkward. Wow, he’s so bad at talking to pretty people.

Cisco nods and bites his lip. Barry immediately wants to soothe that bite with his thumb. “Yeah, that’s pretty much the word I would use.”

“Yeah.” Barry rocks bashfully side to side. He’s not really sure how to answer that, but he’s not going to deflect or push away. Having Cisco this close is nice, even if it’s just friendly. 

A sharp cough splits the pleasant silence that’s descended on them. Barry whips around, hands raised. Caitlin raises her eyebrows at him. “The two of you have just been standing there awkwardly for like a minute.”

“Sorry.” Cisco shuffles back to his seat. On his way, he drops the chewed-ragged lollipop stick into the garbage. Barry predicts he’ll reach for another one within a few minutes.

(Barry really hates being right.)

***

To Barry’s dismay, the cherry lollipops stay. It gets to the point where being in the Cortex is a guarantee of staring at Cisco’s mouth for at least a little while. Worse, Barry keeps having _thoughts,_ late at night when he can’t turn off his racing mind. Admittedly, thinking about kissing Cisco’s ridiculously adorable face is a welcome relief from the worries that usually keep him from sleep. That doesn’t mean it's easy to live with the next day, when he returns to the Cortex and has to face Cisco in real life.

Barry is determined to show that he learned his lesson from Iris. Pining is not useful. It only makes everyday activities a whole new level of awkward. Nobody likes to be pined over. Once begun, it is unfortunately hard to stop, but he can at least avoid being obvious about it. 

He even thinks he’s doing a good job being subtle, too. Then Caitlin asks casually, with a playful little quirk to her lips, “So. Cisco’s lollipop plan is working?”

Barry blushes scarlet and glances toward the Cortex. Cisco is busy at the bank of computers, eyes trained intently on the screen, lollipop stick wiggling slightly as he sucks. Barry thought he’d been doing so well at not staring—apparently not. Then he realizes what Caitlin actually said. “Wait, his _plan_?” 

Caitlin bites her lower lip to hide a smile. “He’s been complaining to me for ages about how you haven’t noticed that he really wants you to kiss him. I told him he should just ask you because…well, you really don’t take hints very well.” She shrugs and glances out at Cisco. “But to be fair, he’s been completely oblivious to your staring, so I think this whole thing was doomed to fail since its inception.”

Cisco wants Barry to kiss him. Barry’s brain goes to static except for that single thought. _Cisco wants Barry to kiss him._ It takes effort not to just speed into the Cortex and kiss him right then. (That’s an impulse that will get him in trouble.) “Really?” he manages, staring at Caitlin’s face for any hint that she’s joking. 

She nods and nudges his shoulder. “Go on, please. I’m so sick of the two of you pining cluelessly. Just kiss him and get it over with.”

At her prompting, Barry flashes into the Cortex and settles between Cisco and the bank of monitors. The moment Cisco notices, he yelps. “Dude, it’s rude to flash up to people like that…” His voice trails off. Maybe, Barry thinks hopefully, the closeness is as overwhelming to him as to Barry. When Cisco speaks again, his voice is breathless and weirdly high-pitched. “Uh. Why are you looking at me like that?” 

Barry can’t think too hard about this, or all his awkwardness will come rushing back. “Caitlin told me about your lollipop plan.”

Cisco ducks his head and calls, “Traitor!” toward the medbay. Faintly, Barry hears Caitlin’s answering laugh. 

“I’m not mad,” Barry assures him. “It just would have been so much easier if you’d told me? Because then I would have kissed you without all the pining and shenanigans.”

Cisco’s eyes snap back up to his face and he squeaks. “Eep! You mean that? You’d, uh, you’d have just…kissed me, just like that, if I’d asked? Because every time I played that scenario in my head, it turned into embarrassment and miscommunication and rambling, like I’m rambling now, and I would like you to please kiss me and shut me up…”

Barry laughs and leans forward to kiss him. Cisco’s lips are sugary-sweet and sticky from the lollipop, exactly as Barry imagined. His tongue flickers out immediately to probe the seam of Barry’s lips. Barry’s hands wind in Cisco’s hair and pull just a little bit. Cisco melts against him and moans into his mouth. 

Barry pulls back just enough to chuckle. “You like having your hair pulled?” 

“Shut up, don’t be mean,” Cisco mumbles, pulling him into another kiss. This time, Cisco’s hands come up to cradle Barry’s head. The pressure of his long, slim fingers is delightful; the warm, sticky feeling against the back of Barry’s head is decidedly less fun. Barry makes a protesting noise into the kiss. Cisco lurches away in shame. “Ah, oh no, dude, my bad, that’s my bad…”

“Your lollipop is on my _head_ ,” Barry whines. Thankfully, when he pulls away from Cisco’s hands, there’s only mild discomfort. The lollipop itself doesn’t stick to him, although sticky sugar-spit lingers in Barry’s hair. Unable to tolerate it, he flashes to the bathroom and takes some wet paper towels to the back of his head. He returns to the Cortex before Cisco even has a chance to throw his now-dirty lollipop away. 

“I’m so sorry,” Cisco babbles. “That was very much on me, that was…stop laughing, Caity!”

“You brought that on yourself.” Caitlin leans against the doorframe, arms crossed over her chest. As Cisco requests, she stops laughing, but her eyes are twinkling with amusement. It’s good to see, given how little she laughs. 

“So.” Barry settles back against the edge of the counter. When he stretches out his legs, his feet end up between Cisco’s. “We’re gonna do that again without the lollipop shenanigans, right?”

Cisco glances up at him almost bashfully. Whatever he sees—probably amusement, which is setting in now that the sensory _nope_ of the sticky sugar is gone—makes him grin. “Yeah, I could go for another couple of those kisses. As first kisses go, those definitely weren’t bad.”

“Um.” Barry throws a sheepish look at Caitlin. She knows already—kind of has to—but that doesn’t mean he wants her listening in when it becomes relevant. “We should maybe…if we’re gonna kiss like that again, maybe not do it in the Cortex? Because, um. Speedster libido is very much a thing.”

Cisco makes a little startled sound. “Oh! Oh, right, you…yes, right. I forgot about that. Um…is it okay if I ask to build up to that? Like, not because I wouldn’t, with you! I would, I very much would. But because it’s going to take some…doing, for me to feel comfortable undressing around you. Sexually or nonsexually, just…” He shrugs. “Dysphoria perk. You have to level up to ‘can see body.’”

Right, Barry didn’t even consider that. He takes Cisco’s hand and laces their fingers together. “I don’t mind having to level up.” With a too-bashful little smile, he admits, “It’ll be nice, getting to, y’know. Go on dates with you. Do nerdy things. Special interest at each other.”

Cisco gives an excited little bounce. “Yes! Yes, I wanna date you, and cuddle you, and kiss your adorable face, and oh God stop me before I ramble again…”

When they kiss again, slow and still sugary-sweet, there are no sticky lollipops to ruin it.


End file.
